


Worlds Collide

by hayatecrawford



Series: Worlds Collide (CM doodles) [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, F/M, Female Sentinel, Futanari, Male Guide, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, There will be Crossover between works, fendom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:33:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23031757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayatecrawford/pseuds/hayatecrawford
Summary: Sentinel/Guide AU in the Criminal Minds world.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Worlds Collide (CM doodles) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1658956
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was started as just a doodle, for Hotch. But it kept growing and went on a completely different path than I first expected. At this point, I decided to put it up here because...a lot of reasons. 
> 
> The S*E* means what Season and what episode, basically to give an idea of when the story happens (or when I think it happens).

S4E10

***

“Oh no you don’t.”

“Oh yes we did,” Rossi answered as he walked by, with a very small smile on his face, waiting to see what’s gonna happen next. 

“Are you kidding me??” Sonja turned to stare at her boss. Hotch simply stared her back. She wasn’t happy—scratch that, she’s beyond pissed, “you know that means putting a humongous target mark at your back, right? What the f—“

“Language.”

“Don’t,” She was never afraid to speak up, even when she’s facing her boss, “what in the world were you—“

“Agent Grand,” Hotch interrupted, knowing exactly why she was pissed, “you are going to part of this operation and I need you to be calm and focused. Can you do that?”

Everyone in the office turned their eyes to the female Sentinel. Sonja knew Hotch was comforting her—in his own unique, serious way, because that’s how Hotch was at work and she just had to accept it. And it reminded her that he was her Guide, but at the same time, her boss. Sonja’s large, quietly laid down spiritual animal sat up suddenly, a clear reflection of its owner’s emotion change. 

“No one,” Sonja said with a murderous look, not directing to Hotch of course—to whoever poor soul dared touching her colleagues, “will touch you on my watch.”

“I’m counting on you.”

As they left to get ready, some local officers quietly asked, “Are they...?”

“Unbond Sentinel and Guide, matching pair,” Emily simply replied, “Grand is slightly over protective to Agent Hotchner.”

“You called that slightly?” Morgan laughed, “remember that case when the UnSub nearly stab Hotch? She almost ripped the guy’s arm off with bare hands.” 

“Yeah how can I forget,” Emily commented casually as she watched all officers and detectives awed.

“Bless the unfortunate UnSub who we are gonna catch,” Rossi started putting on the vest, “alright let’s make sure Grand doesn’t tear this man apart, literally.”

*

“I can smell him.”

Hotch pulled the SUV into the parking spot, he turned to look at his Sentinel as he turned off the engine. 

“The bush behind,” she continued, eyes closed, “gunpowder, blood...eager, rage, determination to kill you.”

“We have a plan,” Hotch reminded her, knowing Sonja would follow his commands. 

The Sentinel sighed, “yes, Boss,” she opened her eyes, adjusted her watch as she exited the car. 

Hotch did the same, pretending there was no one watching him from behind. The fact was he could tell someone was there, following him as he walked towards the building. The large van ahead of him—the spot where they would initial the plan, he stopped right next to the front, gun drew—

He pointed the gun right at the UnSub’s face. The UnSub startled a bit but quickly reacted, his mad spiritual animal jumped towards Hotch but the Agent didn’t flinch at all—

The large white tiger came out from nowhere and attacked the small weasel, literally swallowed its whole body but left its head out. The female Sentinel jumped out from behind, gripped the UnSub's neck with her left hand and right hand locked in the wrist of hand with the gun. With a powerful, merciless kick landed right at the back of the man’s knee, he dropped the gun, but Sonja kept her force on his neck that made him had a hard time breathing. 

“I got him! I got him!” Morgan had to shout to get Sonja let go of the UnSub before she could choke him to death. He knew it was a Sentinel’s instincts to protect the Guide; but Grand was a lot more deadly than most. Morgan never met any Sentinel like this, even they’ve been working together for a while, sometimes he was still awed by Grand’s abilities.

Hotch put the gun away as the officers dragged the guilty man away. He watched Sonja’s hands put on her hips, pouted, “I really don’t do well seeing you being put in the line of danger.”

“I think you did just fine,” Hotch said.

“Yeah, I can do better,” she was still pouting, but turned around and about to leave, but startled when Hotch wrapped her shoulder with his arm.

“I trust you,” Hotch didn’t look at her but his hand tightened, “you’ve done well.”

Sonja sighed and leaned to his body, “thank you.”

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

S3E?

It was another case. A tough one. Too many had died. The whole team travelled out to the Los Angeles. At the FBI field office there, it was when the team first met the female Sentinel. 

The Sentinel was already waiting for them by the door when the BAU had arrived. For some reasons, Hotch knew at first sight that the woman in front of him was one of the Special Agents in charge of the field office. She was tall and wearing a black short sleeves shirt that showed off her built biceps muscles; a pair of black gloves; very form fitting ivy pants and a pair of sporty boots with a 2-inch heels. Her hair, red and straight, extended to her waistline. And her eyes was waving between green and gold, when the light shined on them. 

A long hair silver white cat, Hotch suspected that it was the Agent’s spiritual animal, suddenly crawled out from behind her shoulders. The large, majestic feline stared at the BAU team with its crimson eyes. Hotch felt the cat narrowed its eyes when it was checking him out. Then the cat jumped to the nearby tabletop; its attention was turned to somewhere else. 

The woman greeted each member of the BAU. She kept her gloves on when shaking hands with them, “nice to finally meet you. I’m Sonja Grand. Your work area is the conference room there, and I have boards, pins and everything else brought in for you guys to work on. Anything else you need, just let me know.”

“Thank you.”

They worked well with Grand. She was sharp, forward but listening well to others’ advices. She also had a lot of insights; it’s like the team gained another genius. The way Grand and Reid went back and forth with the knowledge, almost talked everyone’s ear off. 

Hotch found the female Sentinel fascinating. She’s a natural born leader; the whole office was attracted to her presence: overwhelming, but not threatening. Hotch found himself frequently looked for that presence; when he found it, Grand met his eyes like she was looking for his too. When that happened, Hotch would keep a straight face, but Grand would give him a light smile before resuming her works. 

The interaction of their spiritual animals were quite interesting too. Many times, when Hotch sat by the table, working on the evidences, Grand’s cat would come over and lay down close by. Then his spiritual animal, a large wolfdog he named Gabriel, would raise his head and survey the feline. The two animals kept a distance and stared at each other, like checking each other out. The team and the rest of the field office found that scene fascinating. 

“Blanc, be nice,” Grand walked by and pointed her finger at the cat, and apologized, “sorry, she’s way too curious like I am.”

“No, it’s fine,” Hotch replied, “she’s not intimidating at all. Her name is Blanc?”

“Yup,” Grand made that p sound at the end, “it means white in French. The only name she would listen to. Sometimes it feels like she’s her own person. Yours?”

“Gabriel,” Hotch answered as the wolfdog turned his head to the female Sentinel. Grand waved her hand at him as a greeting. 

The investigation in fact went smoother than they thought, only except they soon found out there was a third UnSub. And when they arrived, the crazy man had been waiting for them. A dominant Sentinel: ambitious, extremely strong, well trained for battles; he wore multiple guns and blades and he’s thrilled of facing the police and BAU joint forces with majority of the members who were Sentinels; but he knew he’s a lot moe experienced than them. Oh he’s so gonna kill them all kill them all kill them all—

“Okay that’s it, I’m tired of his shit, change of plan,” Grand was a little frustrated but still calm, “Agent Hotchner, I can create a distraction for you to make the shot. What do you say?”

“Do it.”

Hotch watched Blanc appeared on her shoulder as Grand blinked her eyes. She turned slightly to the feline, “let’s go hunting, baby girl.”

Blanc leaped into mid air, with Hotch’s astonished watch, she transformed into a white tiger that was almost twice of Grand’s height. The tiger dashed in an incredible speed, pounced the UnSub’s spiritual animal—a large size hunting dog, to ground. The hunting dog struggled to get up but the tiger tackled it again with almost no effort. With that attack the owner’s attention was severely divided, Hotch took the chance and made a perfect shot at the UnSub’s head, but right after he threw a small explosive device at Hotch and Grand’s direction—

“Get down!”

It was a Sentinel’s natural instinct to protect a Guide. When his back hit the ground with Grand’s weight on his, the only other thing Hotch recognized was loud sound of explosion, and next thing he felt was an overwhelming burst of senses poured into his mind—smell of fine black coffee, sight of technology, sound of movie soundtracks... Something he was not familiar yet they felt so close.

Hotch dragged himself back to reality. He was still in the same position, laying on the ground; he didn’t seem to have any wounds—no pain or moist of blood. Grand was on top of him, eyes widened, both hands on each side of his face—one of them was holding his wrist down, Hotch just realized. 

“You...” she seemed to lose all words, “you are...but...”

Hotch forced himself to focus. Grand did not wear her gloves to the raid. And that’s how they came in skin to skin contact. Normally when Sentinel and Guide made skin contact, both sides would feel certain connections; but usually not enough to push them into an episode. But right now, Hotch obviously just came out of a short one. Grand, on the other hand...

Oh God. Grand was his matching Sentinel. And she was currently stuck in an episode. 

“Don’t,” Hotch used his free hand to stop everyone coming over. He was well aware the methods they used when it came to Sentinels; he didn’t want them to sedate Grand. He’s going to pull her out. 

“Sonja,” using her given name was the first step. Since they were a matching pair—which knowledge Hotch was still trying to process—using the Sentinel’s name already attracted the her attention. 

“Wha...what’s going on?” Grand could form a full sentence. That’s a good sign. She’s conscious enough to respond verbally. 

“We both went into episodes, and I just came out of it,” Hotch tried to keep his voice soft and low. Haley always said his voice was comforting; he’s going to use that. 

“I...remember, explosion...”

“Yes, it looked like a small device. It was thrown to us.”

Grand tensed, hand around his wrist tighten. Hotch mentally smacked himself for saying that. For the record, he did not have many experiences on comforting Sentinels, although he did help several of his colleagues before; yet the reasons Hotch was able to help them was they worked together and he knew them well enough. But every Sentinel was different; for Grand, it was a whole new area that he needed to explore. 

“...are you hurt?” Grand asked with tensions. 

“No. Are you?”

Sonja ignored his question, “did I hurt you?”

“No,” Hotch answered, and added, “of course not.”

She was still looking at him with intense amount of protectiveness and...confusions? Of course she would be; even Hotch himself was. A matching pair of Sentinel and Guide. What’s the odd? 

“I’m fine, Sonja,” he continued his work, “you pushed me out of the way. You saved me there. Are you alright?” 

“I don’t feel pain.” 

“Not feeling pain doesn’t mean you weren’t hurt. You are much closer to the explosion. You are still in an episode, it could take away your sense to pain temporarily.”

Sonja nodded. 

“Can you let me check you out?”

“Are we out of danger zone?”

Hotch looked around, taking his time to show he’s not in any danger, “yes we are.”

“Okay.”

They slowly got up to a sitting position. As Sonja let go of Hotch’s wrist, she saw redness around the man’s skin, she frowned, “I hurt you.”

“No you didn’t, you just made sure I stayed down so nothing could harm me.”

“You don’t know that—“

“I do,” he interrupted her with a soft tone, “let me see your back.”

Her clothes was torn, scratches here and there, but not severe. Seemed like there wasn’t any objects pierced through her body. However Hotch noticed several long old scars across her back; they looked like scars from whips or knifes. He frowned. 

“Can I call the medics over?”

Sonja nodded. Hotch waved them over. Two medics quickly ran through the barricades; two Guides, cause Sonja relaxed right away once she felt they were no harm. None of the BAU members could come over; all of them were Sentinels, except JJ who’s also a Guide but currently at the police station, they couldn’t risk the danger of Grand going into protective spree again. 

It took about an hour for Grand to finally calm down. Hotch was in a hospital room with her the whole time. He kept himself within her sight, kept up the talking; Sonja responded with words here and there, or with simply nod or head shake. 

When Sonja finally slipped into a nap, the BAU team could come closer without triggering the tired Sentinel in bed. Hotch was currently sitting by the bed; he acknowledged his team’s presence but turned his attention back to the sleeping Sentinel. The team found the pair’s spiritual animals tangled up on the couch on the other side of the room. They at last saw Grand’s white tiger; she was at least half a size larger than Gabriel. 

“The size of her spiritual animal is incredible,” Reid couldn’t help but commented, “normally one wouldn’t be bigger than its owner. And the fact that she can switch forms is most fascinating. Research also found the size of the animal could be determined by how long had the Sentinel or Guide come online.”

“So you are saying Grand came online when she was was very young,” Rossi added. 

“The average age a Sentinel or Guide coming online is between 15-40 years old,” Reid cited, “I think she was online younger than that.”

“Huh,” Rossi then asked, “Hotch, how are you holding up?”

“I’m alright,” he tried to keep his voice volume down, “still amazed by Sonja and Blanc.”

“First name bases huh,” the older Agent smiled. 

“Worked well to get her attention. She’s very different to work with. She went deep.”

“That could explain why Grand always had gloves on, it is common way to avoid contact,” Emily deducted, “avoid episodes, since she did not have a Guide.”

“Now she has a match.”

Hotch didn’t response to it. His silence was worrying to all his team members. 

“You weren’t thinking about not accepting it...right?” Reid asked boldly. He respected his boss very much, respected his decision, but this tho...

“Hotch, she’s your matching Sentinel,” Morgan carefully added, “that’s like, one out of what odd? Reid help me there—“

“One out of every four point five known Sentinel-Guide population, which is only 43.72% of the world population.”

“There. Majority of them went through their lives without a match.”

“It’s something we need to talk over,” Hotch finally said, “she’s one of the best and brightest here. And I’m all the way on the other side of the country.”

There were more issues than that, of course. But as far as his concerned team members could tell, at least the pair would try to come up with a solution. 

*

They did not have time to talk until the day BAU was flighting back to Quantico. When Grand asked if she could come with, the rest of the team all moved to the other SUV, meaningly leaving she and Hotch in one car so they had their alone time. Grand tried to bite down a smile while Hotch just hopped in the passenger seat without comment.

“Thank you for coming,” Grand showed her gratitudes again, “it was great working with you guys. You got an awesome team there.”

“You’re very welcome,” Hotch replied softly. 

“Have you,” Sonja took initiative, “ever thought about having a matching Sentinel before? Like, ever?”

“Honestly, no,” Hotch answers truly, “like Reid said, the odd was low. I never expected finding one.”

“I get it. Me too.”

For a moment there was only silence.

“Okay I am just gonna say it straight out,” Sonja took a deep breath, “I think we should take some times to think it over, you might wanna talk it over with your wife first?”

She eyed his wedding ring as Hotch did the same, “and with your kid? I mean I might not be an experienced profiler like you are, but I got this hunch that you have at least a kid.”

“A son. You’re right.”

“Mmm,” Sonja actually smiled, “so yeah... I really think you should talk to your family first; you chose them before I came along, they are your priority. Whatever you decide, I will be ok with it.”

Hotch remembered his empty home, Haley and Jack moved out months ago. He wanted to tell Sonja about it, but no word could come out. 

“My phone is on 24/7. Promise me you will give me a call whatever decision you make? Or just, keep in contact?”

Looking at her hopeful expressions, Hotch couldn’t say no to that, and he didn’t want to refuse either, “I will keep in touch.”

“Thank you.“

*

“So talk to me,” Garcia blinked her big eyes, “boss man found his match?”

“Yeah, one of the SA in charge in the LA field office,” JJ nodded, along with Emily in Garcia’s office, the girls were gossiping.

“Tell me the name,” Garcia turned back to her computer.

“Sonja Grand.”

“Agent...Sonja Grand...holy!”

The tech analyst exclaimed, earning the other girls’ puzzled look, “what is it?”

“THE Sonja Grand??”

“What, you know her?”

“Hell yeah!! Every nerd should know about her,” Garcia pulled up her file, “admitted at MIT at the age of 14, graduated at age of 17 with double MD, graduated from the Academy as one of the top of class. Agent Grand later obtained multiple PhD in different fields; she also published a paper on Artificial Intelligent a couple years ago...well it’s the only paper she published actually.”

“Whoa...” the other two girls were amazed, “so another genius. No wonder Reid and her hit up right away.” 

“Wow look...some of her files are sealed...” Garcia looked like she was interested in trying to unseal the files but stopped, “no, I can’t get boss man in trouble. I will stop. What do you think Hotch will do?”

“I don’t know,” JJ shook head, “he’s married...well, I heard there’s been some problems between him and his wife. Before we left LA, Agent Grand asked Hotch to talk to his family first. At least to me she’s being very reasonable and considerate.”

Hotch chose to walk in at this moment. He was puzzled to see all three women were in the same room, all looking at him with surprised expressions; Garcia even tried to cover up her monitors. 

“What is it?” He asked because he clearly saw Sonja’s portrait photo.

“I’m sorry sir!” Garcia hurriedly apologized, “we are just curious...”

Hotch stared at them for two seconds, “don’t tell me anything about her.”

“You don’t want to know?” Emily asked.

“If I want to know, I rather Sonja tells me herself,” Hotch put down some folders on Garcia’s desk, “I will need these files done by noon.”

“Yes sir.”

The girls watched him out. Emily mouth opened, “wow I think he’s serious.”

“Yup, very,” JJ raised her brows.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

S4E1

The next time they met it was at New York. The news were all about the shooting and bombing in the city. The images of a black SUV explored right outside the Federal Plaza kept replaying on screen. 

Sonja thought about calling the BAU. But she’s not on duty, and the whole city was pretty much in lockdown; there was no way she could sneak in the explosion site, legally. But Sonja couldn’t get the images of Hotch being badly injured out of her head. Or worse. Dead. 

In the end Sonja still called and left a message on Hotch’s phone. After so, she decided to call JJ also, who picked up after a few rings. And that’s how she found out the BAU Unit Chief was alive and walking. 

“Ok ok...” Sonja dropped herself on bed, relieved, “I’m glad to hear that. How’s everyone? Is everyone alright?”

JJ told her everything she knew and eventually found out Sonja was staying at the same hotel as the team; she also let Sonja knew that the team was leaving tomorrow, “you think you will have time to meet with us? Unless you already have plans?”

“Nah,” Sonja paused, “you think it’s ok for me to show up? I mean I don’t want to interrupt, you guys’ been through hell these past few days.” 

“I think we can use a familiar face,” JJ said with a caring tone, “have you talked to Hotch lately?”

Sonja nodded but signed, “we keep in touch. We are both pretty busy, you know,. We kept the topics about work pretty much. We haven’t talked about...well, our, thing.”

“What?” JJ almost shouted; it had been months since she heard his divorce was finalized, “you mean you two haven’t made any decision?”

“At least we stay in contact, that’s more than I can ask for. He has a family,” Sonja tried to keep her voice as neutral as possible, “I can't...just barge in like that.”

She caught some noises from the other side of the line. JJ excused herself and turned to speak with people next to her. Sonja waited patiently, until a male voice came through the phone unexpectedly, “hello, Sonja.”

“—Aaron! Hi,” she startled, desperate to calm her voice, “I heard what happened, I’m glad your ok.”

“Thank you.”

“I called earlier and left a message on yours. I was getting too worried, so I called JJ.”

“I lost my phone during the explosion,” his voice was too calm, like nothing had happened for the past few days, “when I recovered it it wasn’t working anymore. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You’re ok, that’s what matters.”

JJ nudged Hotch on the side and mouthed something ‘ask her’. The Unit Chief waved, turned his attention back to the phone, “we are all here at the lobby, you have time?”

“Of course, I will be there.”

The whole team sat at a corner. They were all tired but kept up small, easy talks. And that’s when Hotch noticed something was nudging his arm. The sight of a large white tiger might startle anyone, but not him.

“Hi Blanc,” Hotch let the tiger rested her head on his thighs, his hands petted the medium length fur. Garcia, being the only one who hadn’t met the tiger and her owner, sucked in a breath and almost screamed in excitement. 

“Hey guys, long time no see,” Sonja stopped at the table, extended her hand to Garcia, “you must be the legendary technogoddss of the BAU. I’m Sonja Grand, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Penelope Garcia! OMG it’s absolutely my honor to see the real tech genius!” Garcia stood up and almost jumped to hug Sonja, “I read your paper on Artificial Intelligence! Is it true that you built one??”

“What do you mean ‘built one’?” The others puzzled. 

“Oh,” Sonja blinked, “nah it's just a school project. It only has some basic coding there. No big deal. Umm, It’s been crazy lately, let’s just talk casual stuff, yeah?”

The others let her off the hook. Sonja relaxed and smoothed Gabriel’s fur, quietly drinking, watched everyone chatting. She got to admit, sitting next to her Guide, even they were unbond, the Guide’s aura surrounded and smoothed her mood; yet Sonja could tell something was bothering Hotch, not just about work. And that’s when she noticed that he wasn’t wearing his wedding ring.

Shit shit shit—

Okay maybe she’s just overthinking about it. Maybe he didn’t wear it because the case got too ugly so he took it off. Calm down, just relax and think...

Hotch noticed her line of sight. He didn’t tell her much about his family. Their conversations were always keep short, and most of time it was Sonja who initiated the calls. No matter what, he owed her an explanation; he didn’t feel right about hiding it from his Sentinel. She was the one person who was supposed to understand him better than anyone else. 

“You wanna...” Hotch tilted his head, suggesting they talked in a more private setting. 

Sonja nodded. They excused themselves and found an empty corner. She put down her drink, sat and looked back at Hotch, showing that she’s ready to listen.

“Haley and Jack moved out a couple of months ago before we met. The paper wasn’t finalized until a month or so after that,” Hotch paused, shook his head, “that’s pretty much it, actually.”

“I’m sorry,” Sonja said, as Blanc moved even closer to Hotch, started licking his hand like a cat. Hotch found that gesture strangely comforting. 

“I talked to Jack, I told him that I loved him, I don’t know how much he can understand,” he didn’t know why he’s telling Sonja about his son but somehow words just came out, “I don’t know what else I can do.”

“Make sure he knows you love him no matter what, and see him when you can,” Sonja munched her drink, “not growing up with both parents are hard, make sure your son doesn’t feel that way.”

Hotch read between lines, “you...?”

“I never knew my parents,” she shrugged, “my uncle adopted me when I was a few months old.” 

“You never found out?”

She shook her head, “nope, said I was left on the stairs at a church. Pretty dramatic huh.” 

Hotch wanted to respond to that, but could not. Despite his abusive father, he at least had parents and knew where he came from. He could not understand Sonja’s feeling, growing up not knowing anything how she was born. 

“Stop moping,” Sonja elbowed him lightly, “I told you cause I don’t mind anymore. My uncle is great, and his family is great, I grew up with many loves. I don’t feel alone. Just make sure Jack is not either.”

“You are right,” his corners of mouth tugged up a bit, head turned as he felt Blanc actually climbed up higher to lick his face. Spiritual animals reflected their owners’ true emotions, that meant...

Sonja’s biting her lower lip, she leaned her cheek to one hand like she’s trying to hide her face. She downed the rest of her drink and ordered another one. And under the dimmed light of the bar, Hotch could see her ears were a bit red; either it was from the alcohol, or from how Hotch let Blanc laid across his laps and he’s scratching her chin. 

“Blanc is...” he tried to find the right word, “gorgeous, incredible.”

“Thanks,” now her face was a bit red too, but her smile was beautiful, “Blanc wasn’t always like that.”

“Like what?”

“Blanc wasn’t a tiger to start with. She used to be a small, white house cat. She turned into a white tiger second year I was in MIT, since then Blanc can switch forms,” she thought a bit, “guess it was because I was too smart for my own good.”

“What does it mean?”

“I was younger than most students and already smarter than majority of them and was working on double MD?”

“Garcia wasn’t joking when she said you’re tech genius huh.”

Sonja laughed it out, “I do love engineering. Anyway, some stupid kids bullied me at school and I beat the shit out of them,” which received a light frown from Hotch, “not by physical force, by grades, of course. Blanc is usually a cat but change form when it’s necessary. It intimidated people.” 

Hotch was amazed by the story and said, “I won’t judge even if you beat them up physically.”

“Is it really something an Unit Chief should be saying?” Sonja widened her eyes but with a huge grin on her face.

“I did not encourage you to do it, but as a human being I understand sometimes it is necessary.”

“Yeah...” she turned to him with a narrowed look, “sound like there’s story there.” 

“I might or might not have done some dumb things,” Hotch chuckled. 

“Care to share?” 

Hotch watched his wolfdog presses himself against Sonja’s calf, decided it would do no harm to share, “Reid and I were interviewing Chester Hardwick before his execution. It was during the time Haley and I were working on the divorce paper, so I might’ve lose my self control a bit that day.“

He was surprised when Sonja placed a hand on his, as support. 

“We were locked in a room without our guns with him, he later revealed his true intention was to kill both of us to delay his execution. I was ready to take Hardwick down by force but Reid interrupted it by pretending to explain why he killed, until the prison guards came in to the rescue. So.”

“Whoa, I would pay to see that show down,” Sonja cracked a smile, “but that’s so gonna ruin your perfectly tailored suit.”

“I did took off my jacket and tie first.”

A strange silence filled the air. Sonja sat there with both eyes widened, finally formed words before Hotch could say anything, “wait wait wait, you took off your jacket and tie—“

“I did. How was I gonna fight with them on?“

“In front of a dominant, nasty, Alpha Sentinel serial killer—“

“So?”

Sonja sat up straight, “well if I was him I would’ve jump you right on the spot.”

Hotch stared at her with raised eyebrows.

“I found you very attractive,” she winked, “and the whole scene you just described sounded so sexy. I have absolutely no doubt about your abilities to take that bastard down. But you are my Guide, I am bummed at the fact that he got to see you taking off suit jacket and tie but not me.”

“Really, that’s your focus,” Hotch almost couldn’t believe what he heard; was she flirting with him?

“Well,” his Sentinel had this meaningful smile on her face, and she probably leaned a bit too close, “I have many fantasies, and one of those is to see a serious, well dressed, good looking boss man takes off his suit.”

Yup, definitely flirting. And Hotch didn’t not like it at all. 

*

“You gonna be ok?”

The next day Sonja again came to see the team off. Since Hotch couldn’t drive, Morgan took up this important task to make sure him and his boss get back to Quantico safe. 

“Yeah of course, Morgan is doing the driving.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

Sonja pointed at her own right ear. Since the bombing Hotch had been suffering with hearing problems. 

“Go see a doctor will you? And please don’t push yourself too hard. You need rest. Hearing problem like that can become permanent.” 

“I will.”

“And umm... I’m flying to Quantico tomorrow.” 

The specific location had even Morgan turned his attention to the pair, “what?”

“I’m meeting the Directors.” 

“What’s going on?” Hotch frowned lightly, wondered why she didn’t tell him earlier. 

“I was giving the chance to work in DC when I graduated from the Academy, but I rejected them. A highly unstable unbond Sentinel would only do more harms than good,” Sonja explained, “over the years I took classes, did researches, basically self trained myself to be more controlled. I have been debating whether to go back to the offer they gave me years ago.”

‘And now I found you’ was what didn’t need to be said. It’s natural that when a matched Sentinel and Guide found each other, the earlier wanted to be with the one person who could comfort him or her. 

“You got any ideas what departments they will put you in?” Morgan couldn’t stop his curiosity but asked.

“I don’t even know if they want me back at all,” Sonja haven’t really thought about that part.

“If they do, request BAU then,” Morgan said. 

“Hmm, tempting, and I do have MD in Psychology,” Sonja winked.

“Girl you gotta stop giving us surprises every time we meet.”

Both Sonja and Morgan laughed so hard at his words, even brought Hotch a slight smile. Morgan decided to push on and said, “seriously, come to us, it’s gonna be fun, and you know us all already.”

“Do you think your Unit Chief and SSA Rossi will sigh off the transfer?” Purposely avoided Hotch’s eye contact, Sonja playfully asked her fellow Sentinel. 

Hotch had no doubt that if Sonja was a Guide she would hit it off with Morgan in no time, probably bonded right away—no, he’s not jealous. But it’s this moment he realized something: the sense of protectiveness and possession; Sentinel or Guide, didn’t matter which side, one would feel those emotions towards the other. 

He would sign off the transfer if his Sentinel requested.


	4. Chapter 4

S4E1-2

Chief Strauss walked into the BAU office with a file folder in her hand. Her facial expression was so serious that made all the staff looked at her and thought “oh shit.” She went straight to Rossi’s office while the rest of the team were looking. 

“Agent Rossi, I have a matter to discuss with you and SSA Hotchner.”

Rossi puzzled but got up and followed her. They both walked into Hotch’s office and Rossi closed the door.

“Oh that is not good,” the rest of the team made an unpleasant sound.

In Hotch’s office, “yes ma’am, what can I do for you?” He asked with a slight frown.

Strauss handed him the file folder. Hotch took the folder and read it said “CLASSIFIED” on the cover. He opened it and saw Sonja’s photo clipped on the first page. 

“Apparently you’ve been keeping secrets, Agent Hotchner,” she commented with a calm tone of voice.

“We are not required to disclose that information,” Rossi said, tried to cover for Hotch.

“Normally, yes, I agree,” Chief Strauss replied, turned to look at Hotch, “but not when Agent Sonja Veliuona Grand is involved.”

“What do you mean?”

She sat down by the chair in front of Hotch, “Agent Grand requested a transfer to Quantico. After her refusals to the FBI headquarters, CIA and the Department of Defense years ago, it was natural for the Director to ask why. And that’s how we found you and Grand were a match.”

“CIA and the DoD?” Rossi was surprised.

“After she successfully hacked the Pentagon at an early age, can you blame them for wanting her in their hands?” She asked and saw the shocking expressions from the other two Agents, “she didn’t tell you that. I see. Sonja Grand has been on the government’s watch list since then. She was invited to work on a few top secret government projects.”

Rossi and Hotch listened and looked at each other unbelievably. Hotch had been talking to Sonja for months and had zero idea about this part of her. He looked down to the word “CLASSIFIED” on the file folder, deep in thought.

“If Sonja has that capability,” Hotch’s use of her first name earned a raised eyebrow from Strauss, “why didn’t the Directors convince her to be transferred to other divisions that fits more to her knowledge?”

“Trust me, we tried. Numbers of divisions expressed interests on her over the years; she turned them all down. Her reasonings were,” Strauss paused to find words, “valid.”

“What was her reason?”

“I heard what happened when you two first met,” she said, “you had some damn lucks on helping Grand’s episode with no trainings between the two of you. Last time she went into a bad one, they sent four Guides on her.”

“That was a lot of Guide powers,” Rossi frowned deeper.

“Grand is classified as Dominant-Alpha Sentinel, a Level 9; most of Agents here are no more than a 7. She’s been online since she was 3, you’ve seen her spiritual animal,” Strauss sat back and sighed, “Grand was, highly unstable back then. It was not wise for an unstable Sentinel to work for high-risk government positions. So when Grand turned down every offer, they were actually relieved, but kept watching her over the years.” 

“Then why did they still offered at the first place? What were they going to do if Sonja accepted the jobs back then?” Hotch was showing sign of angers, “What would they do if she went berserk?”

“You are not going to like the answer, Aaron,” Strauss looked straight into Hotch’s eyes, pointed at the folder, “Agent Grand, by her knowledge and experiences, is qualified for several other divisions in FBI. Her number one choice is still the BAU. But here is the deal we gave her: Grand would be part of this team, but she would also titled as Consultant for other departments, mainly the Cyber Division. Grand agreed to those terms already and the Directors approved her transfer. I approved it too, now the final decision is up to you two. If you decide to sign off, do remember that they will watch you two more closely. I will leave it to you.”

Hotch opened the folder again after Strauss left the office. At least half of the paper was blacked out by black inks. He suspected those were the government projects she was involved in. 

“From what I gathered, Grand tried to run from the spotlight,” Rossi sat down in front of Hotch.

“Transfer to DC is the total opposite of what she’s been trying to do,” Hotch rubbed his forehead, “and it sounded to me that they wanted to gain more control on her through me.”

“You are the perfect leverage,” Rossi said, “remind me why I hate politics.”

“Sonja told me before we left New York, that she’s coming to Quantico to talk about job transfer, I told myself at that time I would sign it off if she requested the BAU,” Hotch looked down to the opened folder, “I’m not sure if I want to do that anymore.”

“I think,” the senior Agent spoke, “it is better that she is here, so you two can go through this together. Unless you explicitly state that you don’t want anything to do with your Sentinel—“

“I won’t do that,” the Unit Chief cut off Rossi’s words almost impertinently, then he saw the other Agent’s narrowed look, “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“That’s ok,” Rossi dismissed it, “you obviously value this connection you two share, then you should work things out with Grand. She clearly cares and likes you too. So.”

“So you approve it, too?”

“Yup,” Rossi leaned over, took the pen and signed his name on the paper, “without a doubt.” 

Hotch checked all the signatures on the transfer letter. He looked up and met Rossi’s encouraging expressions, then grabbed his pen and signed his name.


	5. Chapter 5

S4E2

Sonja Grand was pleased. She had the transfer paper signed and approved. She packed her stuff in less than four days—she didn’t have much stuff anyway. Carefully held her badge, Sonja decided to stop by the new office before officially working there. She’s gonna work with a group of amazing people and more importantly, she could see her Guide all the time hell yeah—

“Sonja!” Emily was the first to see her sat by the visitor chair, “what are you doing here?”

Sonja pulled out her badge, “I will be working with you guys!”

“No way!!”

“Holy shit, you really got it!” Morgan came over and gave her a hug, the other team members followed, “can’t wait for you to surprise me everyday now.” 

“Me too!” Sonja was so excited, “did you guys just come back from Ohio?”

“Yes we did. Another messed up case, but nothing we couldn’t solve.”

“I expect no less,” Sonja had been waiting for that someone special to show up. She kept looking at the elevator. 

The team exchanged glares. Rossi decided to tell her the truth, “Hotch won’t be coming back for a day or two.”

“What? What happened? Is he ok?”

“He can’t fly,” the senior Agent explained, “he’s driving back. And I might’ve suggested him to take a day or two to enjoy the views on the way.” 

“Oh,” that’s all Sonja said, but everyone could feel some of her excitements were half gone; she had this kicked puppy look on her face, “umm, that’s good actually, he needs some rest. Yeah.” 

“True,” Rossi commented neutrally, “are you all settled in at where you live?”

“Yes, for a couple of days already.” 

“I see,” Rossi nodded, “come to work tomorrow. Hotch isn’t here yet but you can get a head start. You have a lot to learn.” 

“Okay!”

To say she had a lot to learn was an understatement. First day at the office, Sonja was already helping her teammates with countless reports; when she saw all the file folders on JJ’s desk, her first comment was surprisingly calm, “there are always more out there, huh.”

“Unfortunately,” JJ said as she had Sonja sat in front of her desk, “one down, many more to go.”

“And some never had closures,” the Sentinel made a sad statement, JJ had to agree, cause it was true. 

Sonja had been running around in the BAU office whole day. Every time she passed by Hotch’s office, she couldn’t help but took a quick peek through the window. She saw Jack’s photo on his desk, a truly adorable boy with a beautiful smile. It’s then she decided, whatever and whoever were treasured by Hotch were hers to protect. 

The new Sentinel Agent hadn’t needed to wait too long. The second day in office, Hotch walked in when Sonja was furiously typing a report for a family murder case, completely did not notice her Guide’s presence.

“You look like you are gonna behead somebody,” Morgan was laughing behind her, “relax girl.”

“This dude deserves death sentence if you ask me,” Sonja was pissed.

“I hear ya.”

Hotch stopped by her desk, “Agent Grand.”

Sonja stopped typing right away. Why was the voice so familiar? She raised her head and saw her new boss was looking at her with a raised eyebrow; Blanc, in her cat form, jumped onto Hotch’s shoulders and bumped his chin with her forehead.

“Aar—Agent Hotchner!” Sonja quickly corrected herself. Didn’t matter what kind of relationship they had, Hotch was her boss now and she better kept it professionally. But her cat gave no shit about that thought and settled down on his shoulders, liked she’s guarding her territory.

“My office.” 

Sonja got up right away and mouthed ‘shush’ to her giggling colleagues. She quickly fixed her suit and hair, followed Hotch in the office and closed the door as he told her to.

“Agent Grand, welcome to the BAU,” Hotch kept his tone natural, Blanc moved herself onto the desk, laid down next to his hands, “I know Agent Rossi already walked you through but I will officially introduce you to the rest of the office again later. How was your first day?”

“Is 'exciting' a good word to describe?” 

“It’s not always that way, if you must know.”

“I understand.” 

Hotch nodded, “there’s another matter I need to discuss with you. But before that, any other questions you have?” 

“I thought you’re enjoying the view on your way back like Agent Rossi suggested?”

“I tried,” Hotch replied honestly, but gestured all the paperwork on his desk. 

“I see. No more questions. What is the matter you need to discuss?”

Hotch sat up straight and leaned close, all fingers crossed and placed them on the desk, “FBI does not require their Agents to disclose their matched Sentinel or Guide status. What’s your thought?”

Meaning ‘do you want me to introduce you as my matching Sentinel now or keep quiet’.

“Does it really matter?”

“It...really doesn’t,” Hotch sat back. In fact, half of the Agents in this building were either Sentinel or Guide. It wouldn’t matter how well they hide, the rest of the office would find out soon. On top of that, the interactions between their spiritual animals would pretty much give out their relationship right away; and by that, Hotch watched Blanc jumped down to where Gabriel was laying and glooming him.

“I finalized the divorce only months ago,” he felt tired thinking about his failed marriage, “I didn’t say anything, but people noticed. The last thing I want is they gossip about you being responsible for something you didn’t do.”

“Aaron, I’m not some delicate flowers,” Sonja said with earnest, “of course I don’t want them to accuse you being unfaithful either. But we both know that I’m not responsible and you didn’t cheat. And your team knows the truth and being supportive. I believe that’s what matters.”

“You’re right.”

“Well if anyone gossip then I will put the fears of one genius Sentinel in them,” Sonja quickly changed to a half joking, half-serious tone; that brought a smile on Hotch’s face. 

“I’m going to have my hands full with you, huh?”

“Oh I thought you knew already,” the Sentinel giggled, “I can promise no physical force.” 

“I don’t think you need any physical force to put the fears in them.” 

“Why Boss, thank you for the confident.” 

Later the day, Hotch introduced Sonja to the rest of the office, as a new Agent and his Sentinel. As predicted, they received several unfriendly stares. Sonja kept her composures, but Blanc was having none of it; the cat leaped from the table and transformed into tiger, bared her sharp teeth to those people. Those few unconsciously took a step back, either lowered their heads or turned away. Blanc then walked back to her owner and her Guide, stood by the Unit Chief like a loyal knight. The gathering dismissed, Emily walked up to Sonja and gave her a thumb up, with a smile looked way too evilly, “taught them a lesson.” 

“Can they be more obvious?” Sonja replied with a low voice, as she watched Blanc followed Hotch to his office, “should I know about who isn’t a fan of our Boss here?”

“You're out of luck,” Emily snorted, “Hotch can be tough, but he’s a well-respect Unit Chief. He’s...quite popular in many ways.”

“I get it. He is damn good looking man,” Sonja said in this dreamy voice.

“Ahhh look at you,” Emily winked and elbowed her new teammate. 

“So those unfriendly looks were more for me. Got it.” 

“Don’t let them bother you. There’s nothing wrong between you two.”

“Nah I got no time for them. I rather waste it on bothering Boss,” she winked. 

“I can’t wait to see that,” Emily tried not to laugh.


	6. Chapter 6

“Alright people, good night!”

It’s unusual for the BAU to have a couple of uneventful days. Everybody got out of the office asap to enjoy the few peaceful moments they could grasp on. 

“Any plan for the night?” Emily asked.

“I’m gonna hit the gym, gotta go back to my routine, bye guys,” the Sentinel happily dashed out of the office, leaving her colleagues behind. 

“Man I still have reports to finish before leaving,” Morgan rubbed head.

“Didn’t Grand already helped you on some?”

“If I know she can finish that fast I would’ve let her work on some more.”

“Sonja’s not your personal assistant.”

“She does look like one for boss man.”

JJ rolled her eyes as she joined in, “of course Hotch got special treatment from her. Not a surprise.” 

They chatted for a while till Hotch actually left the office with a bag. He usually stayed up pretty late, thus it got JJ’s attention, puzzled, “wow you are leaving early, that’s a first.”

“I am going to see Jack tonight,” everyone looked at him with understanding, but Hotch's eyes were searching his Sentinel around.

“Oh Sonja said she’s gonna hit the gym.”

“Hmm, she did say something about liking the facilities here.” 

“I’ve been here for so long and I never been to the gym before,” JJ thought, “now I’m curious.”

Hotch couldn’t say he’s not. He’s been there a couple of times, but he got way too busy with work so he stopped going. Plus he’s not required to be physically fitted like Morgan to lead the team. He didn’t realize Emily was looking at him till she said, “I wanna see what Sonja does. Let’s go take a look! What you all say?”

And that’s how Hotch got dragged by his team to the next building wing. The gym wasn’t full, but it got several classes going at the same time, and at lease half of the equipments were occupied. Almost everyone was a male, thus, the female Sentinel stood out in the crowd and received most spotlight.

“Ohhhhhh she’s ripped!” The team followed Morgan’s voice to a corner. A group of men was counting numbers, and Sonja was right in the middle doing single hand pushups. She jumped up when the number hit 100, all men cheered up and gave her high fives. 

“That 6-pack, and those biceps,” JJ exclaimed, “what the heck did she do and eat to get all that?”

“That’s a lot of determinations and disciplines, she has all my respects.”

“Hey guys,” Sonja was surprised to see her team was here, “well you all dress up so I guess you guys aren’t exercising?”

“Nope,” the two girls went up to poke her muscles, “holy those are real. How long did it take you?”

“A year or so,” Sonja shrugged and went on telling them her story. She was quite weak on upper body before; during a case at her early years, she was landed in hospital for almost three weeks when an UnSub almost had her killed. It was then she decided she needed to be stronger. After it’s just became a habit, especially when she needed to clear out her mind.

Hotch quietly looked at his Sentinel from behind. It’s true that they were a matching, but the more they spent time together the more questions he had. Or it could just because they haven’t really sat down and talked more than just work. Sonja thought Hotch wasn’t ready emotionally, which, he agreed. Haley was still flesh on his mind; he still loved her, tho not sure if he’s still in love with her; every time he went to her place to see their son, Hotch always remembered their happy time together as a family; and Haley looked at him with this unreadable expressions. Like she’s waiting for him to say something. But nothing came out except just basic greetings. 

“Grand,” a male Sentinel approached Sonja. He nodded to the BAU team, and his eyes moved to Hotch, greeted him properly, “Agent Hotchner, sir.”

Hotch recognized him; that was Agent Jenkins in the next department. Hotch acknowledged and returned the greeting. The Agent looked at him for a moment before turning his attention back to Sonja. The female Sentinel narrowed her eyes at him.

“Wanna go another round in ring?” Jenkins asked.

“Mmm I think I am done for the night.”

“Come on, one more round, or are you afraid?” he showed a challenging look on his face.

Sonja kept her eyes narrowed and she looked at Jenkins and to Hotch and back at the Agent again. She crossed her arms, snorted, “I was gonna refuse to save you some dignity. But since you asked nicely. Alright, one more.” 

Hotch was not pleased with the Jenkins’ attitude to his Sentinel, but he decided to see how the match unfolded. Two Sentinels stepped into the ring, walked slowly around each other. They stared for a minute or two and all the sudden, the fight broke out. It didn’t take Hotch and team more than a minute to realize this was not just an exercise; the two Sentinels were fighting for domination.

Despite her gender, Jenkins did not pull his punches at all. He went in to offense right from the start, but Sonja did great on defending herself. The air around them got more and more tense, and Jenkins might’ve said something to taunt her but the team wasn’t close enough to hear them. Sonja kept her composure, and at that one split second, she found the opening she needed: punch, kick, kick, and she jumped and wrapped her legs around the male Agent’s neck and brought his whole body down. Just like that.

“Wow!” The team cheered and clapped. Hotch’s mouth tugged up a bit, feeling satisfied at how his Sentinel took down the opponent. 

Sonja wrinkled her nose and walked out of the ring without looking back, grabbed her towel and water along the way, waved her hand, “adios boys!”

“Good job!” Emily threw two thumbs up for her, “men, seriously. More jerks in here.”

“Normally Jenkins wasn’t such a dick, but he overstepped and that was a direct taunt to me,” Sonja rolled her eyes.

“Overstep?” JJ puzzled.

The female Sentinel raised an eyebrow at Hotch. The team followed her eyes and realized what she meant. Rossi titled his head, “ah, I noticed that also.”

Hotch was not oblivious. He did notice Sentinel Jenkins’ admiration to him was a lot more than just coworkers, but he never felt anything towards the other Agent. 

“A Sentinel is gotta do what she gotta do,” Sonja waved her hand, “alright I’m really done for the night. I want a date with my hot tub and wine. Let’s go?”

The team agreed to that and left the gym together. Hotch and Sonja walked behind everyone. They exchanged a look, not a word, but both smiled.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically a redo of Season 4, Episode 3. Don't get me wrong, Emily was super badass in this episode; but I switched her place with Sonja just for plot reasons.

S4E3

‘This is my first case and I don’t get to do it with the whole team,’ she whined over the phone and the team actually laughed lightly about it. 

‘You will be next time,’ her Unit Chief commented. 

‘Is you say so, Boss. 10-4.’

The conversation between them on the day she left with Reid for an undercover mission still replayed every ten minutes in his mind since Hotch and the rest of the team jumped on the jet to response to the hostage situation now. He knew he was right about handing over the negotiation to Rossi, because if he had to listen to the painful sounds his Sentinel was making through the beating, while he had someone who he didn’t trust like he trusted Rossi as the lead negotiator, he would lose his mind. 

Rossi’s hand was strong on Hotch’s shoulder to hold him in place. Once the beating was over, Hotch literally threw the headphones on table and left the tent. He needed to regain his composures, but he could not focus, until the white tiger showed up. 

“Blanc,” Hotch kneeled down and let the spiritual animal walked into his embrace. She kept pressing herself to Hotch. The Guide wrapped his arms around Blanc almost desperately, buried his face in those soft fur, seeking comfort as Blanc sought the same thing from him. When he was back to his calm self, Hotch walked back to the commander tent with both Blanc and Gabriel by his side. People who didn’t know awed at the sight but understood right away who that white tiger belonged to when Hotch spoke.

“Grand made the right call, she’s physically tough to take the beating,” he held himself calm and still as he put those words out, hand placed on Blanc when she nudged him, “and withheld spiritual animal made the leader underestimated her.”

“So Reid can have the leader without being suspected,” Rossi nodded, “Grand thought it through.”

“Alright, let’s get back to work.”

Hotch walked away and the two spiritual animals followed him. Dan asked in a low voice, “so it was Hotch’s Sentinel from the radio earlier? Must be hard on him.”

“Yup,” Rossi replied, “and this is her first case as a BAU Agent too.”

“Impressive, she’s done great so far, gotta meet this fearless Agent myself.”

“Once we get them all out, you will be.”

*

Sonja slid out the paper clip she hid in her shoes, carefully picking the lock of her handcuff. Her team was coming in at midnight, like hell she was gonna lay there and wait for rescue. 

The girl’s mother came in hurried and surprised to find Sonja already stood up with both hands freed. But she didn’t care because Sonja was right. The leader was planning a mass suicide. 

If only she wasn’t injured, Sonja would take down all the bastards herself. But instead, Sonja followed all the women and children down to the tunnel, where she finally found Prentiss and Morgan and the rest of the soldiers. 

“You go ahead,” Morgan placed a hand on her shoulder, “we will take care of the rest.”

Emily literally dragged Sonja out of the building, despite the latter’s protest. A lot more soldiers and officers were running in as the women and children were escaping. As everyone ran out, an explode torn up the place. She and Emily were so worried but then felt relieved when they saw Reid and Morgan ran out in time.

“Whoa,” Sonja raised a brow, “there goes my first case. How exciting.”

“I don’t think exciting was really the right word,” Reid finally said once he caught his breath.

“I was trying to be funny, lighten the mood.”

“Try that with Hotch,” Emily poked her uninjured arm, “he certainly looks like he needs it.”

Sonja turned and saw his Guide was running towards her; worried and anxious expressions were written all over his face. It was rare to see him showing so much expressions at work. 

Hotch couldn’t help but touch her face. Someone obviously cleaned up the blood, but there were wounds and bruises on Sonja’s cheek and around the corner of mouth, not to mention there would be more under her shirt. Gabriel came up and nudged her, and Blanc circled around her protectively. 

“Let’s get you check out,” was all Hotch said as he guided her away; he never teared his eyes away from Sonja. He held her hand when the medic was patching her up, felt sick when he saw all the bruises around her waist; Gabriel kept pressing his weight on Sonja, wouldn’t let her go. Then a thought hit Hotch: he’s going to keep getting her hurt and he would have to watch it happen. 

Much to everyone’s comfort, JJ was able to arrange the jet ready and leaving first thing in the morning. A few hours after this whole mess was over, the BAU boarded the private jet. 

“Ahh, private jet! Oh thanks buddy,” Sonja took the water bottle from Morgan’s hand, “it’s nice to have our own jet that takes off anytime anywhere.”

The Unit Chief put himself at the farthest corner of the jet, away from everybody, listening to others’ happy conversation about airplanes. Rossi came by and sat next to him. 

“What are you thinking about?”

Hotch wiped his face with hand, showing how tired he was but wasn’t able to rest. 

“Wondering whether you made a right choice or not?”

The Unit Chief did not comment. That confirmed Rossi’s guess. 

“The fact is we never know. All I know is we all made decisions, and they were the best decisions we could make and fortunately, everything worked out.” 

“I’m not talking about this case.”

“I know. Grand made a choice to come here, the Directors and Strauss evaluated and approved it, you and I both believed that Grand would benefit the team and sign off the transfer. It’s not just you that are responsible, we all are.”

“It’s just, her suffering sound through the radio...”

“I’m sure if it’s any of us were in her position, you would feel the same too. You care about us. That’s why you will do anything to make sure we come home safe,” Rossi was ready to stop talking before he remembered something else, “are you gonna report that attorney general?”

“Yes,” Hotch frowned deeply. He was part of the reason why Reid and Sonja were put in danger; Hotch was not going to let that slide.

“Good.”

The team went back to the office after they landed; JJ and Garcia were already waiting for them by the door. Garcia looked like she was going to cry when she saw Sonja’s face and started stuffing her ice packs and tea bags and all the other things. Sonja ruffled Reid’s hair to ensure him that her injuries were not his fault and that Reid did amazingly to handle the situation. Hotch watched her from behind everyone. The bruises reminded him the choices he made. He walked pass them and to his office.

“Wait…” Sonja hadn’t had a chance to talk to him on the jet. She threw down her bag and chased after him. The door wasn’t closed; she knocked twice to get his attention, walked in as he gave permission.

“Yes?”

He wouldn’t even look directly to her. Sonja hunched her back, sighed.

“Come on, Hotch, look at me, please.”

Hotch finally looked straight to her. Those wounds and bruises, Hotch had seen much worse in his line of work but seeing them on her made him flinched inside. 

“Thank you for trusting me out there,” Sonja said as she pointed at her face, “this was all on him, who’s very dead now.”

“I know, and you’ve done exceptionally well.”

“So why the long face? Because I got hurt on my first case?”

Hotch didn’t reply, but she was hitting it right.

“Mind telling me how many times you and the team got hurt? It’s part of the job descriptions. Yes, I could’ve chosen to sit in a lab since I had double MD on engineerings…but I chose this. And honestly, it’s totally worth it, cause I found you along the way. And this team, I haven’t been with you guys for that long but I love it already.”

Hotch sat by the edge of desk and watched her for a while, then he spoke, “I care for this team and I got worried every time one of them was hurt. But with you it was just different. I am…I was, very compromised back there. I understand now why matched Sentinel and Guide are usually not put in the same team or field together.” 

Sonja was alerted, “that’s BS, they approved my transfer. And you too.”

“I was about not to,” Hotch looked up to her, whined inside when he saw the hurt from her eyes, “they wanted to gain more controls on you. I didn’t want that to happen.”

Realization came through Sonja’s mind. She relaxed, “I know what they would do. I’ve been in this game for years. I told them straight out they could not use you or your family as leverages on me,” and she received a serious look from Hotch, Sonja shrugged, “our government is good at making deals, you can’t tell me crazy for trying.”

“They are not gonna be happy with you acting like that. And that doesn’t mean they won’t do it ever.”

“They’ve been watching me for a long time. I did not do anything out of line, I stayed quiet, I never asked for any privileges, I did everything I could so they couldn’t get to me. I think I’m loyal to this country enough to make that kinds of demands.”

“You are bold,” Hotch actually smiled at her.

Sonja was awed for a second, because she saw something from his eyes. She grinned, “and you like that.”

“I do,” his smiled even deeper, almost proudly. The Sentinel walked over and sat next to him; their auras intertwined the moment their shoulders touched briefly, their fingers linked together without thoughts. They didn’t say anything, but to enjoy this short moment of peace, until they turned their attentions back to work.


End file.
